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Hello all,
With all the monk threads floating around, I figured that a thread about fixing* monks might be useful. Just for all the houserules you have thought of for monks. Let me just say that this IS NOT meant to be one of the "monks suck" threads, just a "lets fix* the monks" thread. My personal ones are
Base Attack Bonus:Give monks a full BAB (BAB=Class Level, for those of you unfamiliar with the term), instead of 3/4 BAB (BAB=3/4Class Level). It will help with feats, and it makes no sense IMHO that monks don't already have this.
Critical Strike :At 4th level, a monk can choose to treat his unarmed strikes as a size category lower for the purpose of damage, to increase his unarmed strikes critical range or multiplier by one. At level 8, he can choose to treat his unarmed strikes as 2 size categories smaller to increase the critical range by 2, multiplier by 2, or range and multiplier by 1 each. He makes this choice before his first attack is attempted in combat. After that, it can be changed as a move action. This stacks with any other effects that increase critical range or multiplier.
Ambidextrous::At 6th level, a Monk gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls while using flurry of blows. At 8th level, and every 4 levels after that, this increases by +1. A monk may expend one point from his ki pool as a swift action to double his bonuses for 1 round.
Diamond Soul:Changing this so that you can expend 3 ki points to raise/lower your SR for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 level+wisdom modifier as a non-action. Then reducing the cost to 2 ki points at level 15-27
*I realize that some people don't think monks need fixing. I understand that. But a lot of people on the forums disagree. Even the devs have stated that monks are a weak class (can't find a link though).
I'll Bite.
Monk gains full BAB
Fluid Movements(Ex): At 6th level, a Monk who makes a full attack using his Flurry of Blows ability can make a single 5ft step after each attack. The monk can use this ability even if he has otherwise moved this round and this movement does not prevent a monk from making a normal 5ft step.
Flurry of Blows(Ex): Starting at 1st level, a monk can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action. When doing so, he may make one additional attack at his highest base attack bonus, taking a –2 penalty on all of his attack rolls. These attacks can be any combination of unarmed strikes and attacks with a monk special weapon (he does not need to use two weapons to utilize this ability).
At 8th level, the monk can make two additional attacks at his highest base attack bonus when he uses flurry of blows, taking a –2 penalty on all of his attack rolls.
At 15th level, the monk can make three additional attacks using flurry of blows at his highest base attack bonus, taking a –2 penalty on all of his attack rolls.
A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands. A monk may substitute disarm, sunder, and trip combat maneuvers for unarmed attacks as part of a flurry of blows. A monk cannot use any weapon other than an unarmed strike or a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows. A monk with natural weapons cannot use such weapons as part of a flurry of blows, nor can he make natural attacks in addition to his flurry of blows attacks.
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Just to clarify the change to flurry.
Old Flurry lvl 15 Monk: +13/+13/+8/+8/+3/+3
New Flurry lvl 15 Monk: +13/+13/+13/+13/+8/+3
Improved Fluid Movements(Ex): Starting at level 11, a Monk who makes a full attack using his Flurry of Blows ability can sacrifice his next melee attack with the highest base attack bonus to immediately move up to 15ft. as a free action. The monk can use this ability at any point during his flurry of blows, but he must have at least one attack remaining to do so. This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.
At 16th level this distance is increased to 30ft.
So those are my fixes... I think the monk needs to be (1) Fast and mobile and (2) Accurate. Even if the monk isn't hitting like a truck, he should be able to hit pretty regularly. The change I offered for Flurry gives him a much better ability to hit and makes the monk incredibly mobile (something they are supposed to be good at, but pale in comparison to the pounce barb).
This monk can weave his way effortlessly through a melee, which I like, because I have seen a lot of Kung-Fu movies. It also gives him a psuedo pounce at 11th (only 15ft, have to sacrifice an attack, up to 30ft at 16) which could easily be increased with item or feat support.
Well I also think flurry should change... right now its just a ranger combat style... except yoh also don't qualify for t.w.defense or rend or feint etc. And you are far more limited in your choice of weapons.
This is not the beefy class feature that it should be.
All I did was make it more like a scaling rapid shot for melee attacks... this it least makes it a unique class feature. And I left in the weapon restrictions so its just as unappealing a reason for a dip as it is now.
Don't have a lot of time tonight, but I will get back to this after the weekend.
MA
Psionics Unleashed SRDHello all,
With all the monk threads floating around, I figured that a thread about fixing* monks might be useful. Just for all the houserules you have thought of for monks. Let me just say that this IS NOT meant to be one of the "monks suck" threads, just a "lets fix* the monks" thread.
The Psychic Monk is a project I've been working on for a while. This is the playable class with little else. The full document will include a lot of additional material when it's finished, which will likely be placed as a free download on my blog (Alvena Publishing) or if large enough I may put it up online for $1.00 or something small like that.
This class is a full scale revision of the monk from the ground up. The monk uses the psionic rules to very fluidly represent the mystic ki energy that is present in living things which is then spent to fuel the monk's most noteworthy abilities, his powers. Chosen from a expansive list of martially minded powers, and with the option to expand his or her horizons to branch out into other powers, the psychic monk has virtually all the potential you could ask for when designing your monk's capabilities and their style.
The core of the class received heavy revision. Monk unarmed strike damage no longer continues to increase in die size (a mechanic that was rarely very useful and created a lot of disparity between monks of different sizes) and instead the monk's unarmed strikes begin at 1d4 for small, 1d6 for medium, and 1d8 for large and remain there. Unarmed strikes and monk weapons receive a scaling bonus to both hit and damage at the levels that the monk would have originally increased their damage die size.
The monk's flurry of blows is not like two-weapon fighting at all. It just gives you extra attacks when you full-attack. It also stacks with two-weapon fighting if you desire to go that route (and it is a very viable route to go).
The monk loses the scaling AC bonus (it is entirely redundant on this version of the monk who can self-buff his AC very well if desired) but retains the ability to add Wisdom to armor class and CMD.
The monk now receives monk secrets. Secrets are choose-your-own features similar to rogue talents. Most of the original monk class features are now available in the form of secrets, along with some options for customizing and expanding your monk's capabilities (there is a secret to attain proficiency with bows and treat them as monk weapons, a secret for treating all weapons the monk is proficient with as monk weapons, and a secret for choosing a weapon you are proficient with to be treated as a monk weapon; allowing a level of diversity in your style and for multiclassed monks).
Monks now being psionic have access to a wonderful range of psionic feats of which many are solidly in the realm of things monks would be likely to do. Examples include feats such as Up the Walls, Deadly Throw, Intuitive Fighting and Unavoidable Strike.
This monk is versatile, highly customizable, can function in a variety of roles, and is far less multi-ability-dependent than the core monk. Further, it can fill the roles that traditional martials like rangers or paladins without copying them. Playing this monk feels much different than traditional martials.
Further, due to the addition of psionic powers, the monk can serve out of combat better than it could before. If desired, powers such as chameleon and wall walker can be used to enhance stealth or create a sort of mystical ninja or spy. Further, with powers such as Psionic Lion's Charge you can finally move and full-attack in the same round, but you just can't spam the ability (you won't need to spam it though, because you'll be tough enough to not have to rely on this).
My players love this class. My brother who has long hated monks due to a combination of poor customization opportunities and poor class balance was one of the first to fall in love with it. He uses it for all kinds of things from kung-fu martial artists to assassin's creed style warriors who are good at using unarmed attacks and a variety of awesome tricks.
ADDITIONALLY, you can now make a monk who does not suck as an old guy. One of the things that always irked me was how aging penalties destroy monks in core. Sure, if you get to 20th level before getting old the capstone could have your back, but that doesn't change that the wise old martial arts master who isn't a deity is basically a joke, both from an NPC and PC perspective. Now due to the wisdom synergy, it is entirely possible to make a very viable martial arts master who is old age or even (if you really want) venerable (though you'll want to get a lot of long duration self buffs in the latter case). The aging benefits from old age can be easily offset with feats such as Intuitive Strike and the bonus Power Points (read: ki) that you get for having a higher Wisdom.
If anything, please enjoy this, point others to it in this thread or on my blog, and spread the love of monks for all.
Will post my 2 different rebuilds when i get access to wifi.
I did a monk-based class for a full game revision project
This is a nearly zero-magic setting that I have been working on for a while, here is a link to the class
Not my favorite class in that setting, but a manageable reworking of the Monk.
I found that the Combination Punch worked really well in practice.
Edit: sorry about the big clunky signature over the art... but its not meant for public use and I didn't feel like watermarking it.
I give monks unarmed strike weapon qualities starting at 3rd level they can choose blocking or brace, they receive an additional quality every even level.
If the player chooses the unarmed path, he can only flurry unarmed but he gets a few bonuses (taken from another forum) called harsh training. He loses proficiency with the exotic monk weapons but gets dodge, endurance, toughness and run that can't be retrained.
If the player chooses to use weapons, he gains proficiency in all monk weapons and only takes a -1 penalty to attack with improvised weapons.
There are a few more modifications I use but I'll have to go to my notes so I can give credit to whoevers idea I borrowed.
this. Fixes bab issues, fixes divided focus issues. Fixes weapon limitations. Leaves in as much of the cool monk abilities as you want.
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Hello all,
With all the monk threads floating around, I figured that a thread about fixing* monks might be useful. Just for all the houserules you have thought of for monks. Let me just say that this IS NOT meant to be one of the "monks suck" threads, just a "lets fix* the monks" thread. My personal ones are ** spoiler omitted **...
Personally, I believe they should gain +1 Attack/Damage with IUS and Monk property weapons at the same levels they gain their AC bonus at. I think that'd be perfect. That and change their BAB to 3/4ths and FBAB to Full starting at 0 instead of -2. Then change the AoMF to a +10 item. I think that's literally all they need and it's certainly nothing extreme and it would help them keep up much easier with other Martials without actually exceeding them in damage(which they really shouldn't...). It would also be easier for players to build them and not have to worry about having a doctorates degree.
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I made an archetype that had this:
Dance of Blows (Ex): At 7th level, while flurrying, a zen weaponmaster may take a 5' step between each attack, up to half his movement. This movement does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
At 14th level he may move up to half his movement and still use flurry of blows.
This ability replaces wholeness of body.
I have considered making it a psychic warrior archetype, or if I am not feeling up to it, just point the monk player at the meditant and tell him/her to get the right paths, feats and powers to fit the style s/he wants.
1st level class ability that allows the monk to choose Dex or Str to be used for attack bonuses (including Combat Maneuvers, etc.). Solves some of the MAD issue while still keeping them at a 3/4 BAB progression...and doesn't infringe on other classes damage output abilities.
Make Abundant Step allow a FoB to be used afterwards. Alternatively give 2 of the Dimensional Agility feats for free.
And that's really it for me...I'm pretty happy with the class as is.
this. Fixes bab issues, fixes divided focus issues. Fixes weapon limitations. Leaves in as much of the cool monk abilities as you want.
Damn, this keeps getting good press on this site...
*Adds to cart*
Items I'm taking from this thread include:
Ambidextrous, fluid movement and fuse style for now.
Full BAB, and d10 hd. Flurry counts as twf for prereqs, but it only usable with weapons which can be used in a flurry, say a monk can gain Two weapon defense, but can use it only when unarmed, wielding a temple sword, quarterstaff, etc.
Also at 6th level he can move 15 feet during his 5 foot step, 30 feet at level 12, and 45 feet at level 18.